Pumpin’ Parka

A 48-hour design charrette with the goal of encouraging designers to quickly evaluate the needs of people interacting within a defined geographic area and design an object to facilitate an unmet need. The charrette, directed by guest lecturer and Italian design educator Lorenzo Imbesi, tasked our group with researching, generating ideas, and fabricating a design that must incorporate one assigned material—in our case old bicycle tubes—for any behavioural discoveries in our assigned area, Granville Island in Vancouver.

Interviews with commissionaires working in the area described a high level of parking metre infractions and, in some cases, agressive behaviour towards commissionaires by offenders. Back at the studio we fabricated a custom, wearable parka that officers could inflate for protection from agressors.

Collaboration with James Bury, Mandy Chen, James Lee, Hendrick and Shokoofeh Ghasemi.

A final learning outcome was the benefit of demonstrating our solution through role-playing and performance (to an auditorium of fellow designers):